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I’ve never believed the first
premise. I’m beginning to wonder about the second.
Over the last couple of years, I have seen more and more
drivers run red lights. Not blow through the light while
other traffic is going the other way with the green, of
course, but extending the yellow after the light turns
red. It’s getting to the point of being ridiculous.
I recently saw six cars go through a light after it had
turned green for the crossing traffic! But I have yet to
see a cop set up shop at one of these intersections. Are
they even aware this is happening? I asked my neighbor (a
Seattle motorcycle officer) if he had noticed this
behavior. I was astounded when he said no, he hadn’t
seen it! This guy drives the very same streets I do, and
his job is traffic enforcement, and he claims he
hasn’t seen people running lights! He did take the
opportunity to complain about people going 50 mph on the
40 mph arterial near our homes (50 seems to be the
prevailing speed there and I’ve never seen an
accident). A check of King County’s traffic
citation reports shows that someone is noticing.
Citations for running red lights are up about 50% over
the last two years. Interestingly, speeding tickets are
down! I never thought I’d see that. It makes too
much sense. After all, average traffic speeds have been
going up ever since 1928 when they first started keeping
such records. During that same time, the overall fatality
rate has consistently dropped. The only time the rate
didn’t drop significantly was during the time when
the 55-mph national limit was being enforced! But now
that the Congress is about to repeal the NMSL (National
Mandatory Speed Limit), there may be hope for some
sanity. States were being blackmailed into enforcing the
NMSL with the threat of having Federal highway funds
withheld. With that threat gone, maybe they can start
focusing on real traffic safety.
Freeway driving is the highest speed driving we do,
yet freeways have the lowest fatality rate of any type of
road. In fact, the rate is about one-half that of the
total rate for all driving. Compare this with secondary
roads (rural highways like Highway 18) which have the
highest fatality rate and it becomes clear that speed
isn’t really the main factor. Here we have roads
with speed limits in the 50- mph range having the highest
rates, and other roads with speed limits of 55- to 65-mph
having the lowest rate. What gives?
It’s pretty obvious. The biggest difference is in
the roads themselves. Design the ultimate safe road. What
would it look like? Lots of open space for good
visibility. All the traffic going the same way at
relatively equal speed. Limited access and no cross
traffic. No big obstacles like trees near the road.
Sounds like a freeway to me.
Just the opposite holds true on secondary roads.
Limited visibility. Oncoming traffic with no barriers or
space separation. Wide variation in speeds. Unmarked
intersections. Trees, ditches, buildings and gravel just
off the pavement. Can you say "death- trap"?
But the real threat right now is starting to come from
the red-light- runners. While the speeds involved are
comparatively low, a side- impact accident can cause far
more injury than a rear-ender, since the driver is much
closer to the point of impact. This will also reveal who
is wearing seat belts and who isn’t. I remember an
accident several years ago in which a car was struck from
the side while crossing an intersection. The impact spun
the car into the curb, the door came open, the unbelted
driver was thrown out and died of head injuries when he
hit the sidewalk.
Our fearless NWDEletter editor, Nick Blenkush, who is
stuck in L.A., tells me that the latest trend down there
is to jump the green! "I’m in a hurry, the
light’s about to turn green, so LET’S GO!"
Can you imagine what will happen when these two trends
cross? I hope the police start paying more attention
before people get killed. After all, they are supposed to
be concerned about traffic safety.....aren’t they?
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